Apparatus for launching ships&#39; boats.



L. LHEURBUX.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1912.

, 1,070,083,I Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

(NSM ajl Snom/4201,

L. LHEUREUX.

APPARATUS PoR LAUNGHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1912.

1,070,033. Patented Aug. 12,1913.

4 SHEETSvSHEET 2.

@2... 4wd. QM/g L. LHEUREUX.

APPARATUS PoR L'AUNGHING SHIPS' BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1912.

1,070,633., Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Amr-nay COLUMBIA PMNouR/APH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

L. LHBUREUX.

APPARATUS POR LAUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLIoATIoN FILED Nov. 2o. 1912.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

LUDGER LHEUREUX, OF MONTREAL, QUEPEC, CANADA.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

Application filed November 20, 1912.

To all whom, i may concern Be it known that I, LUDGER LHEUREUX, residingat 92 St. Hubert street, in the city of Montreal, in the Pro-vince ofQuebec, in the Dominion of Canada, a marine engineer, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements Relating to Apparatus for LaunchingShips Boats, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same.

The invention relates to an improved apparatus for launching shipsboats, and has for its objects to secure greater safety to thepassengers in stormy or calm weather, by the provision of an apparatussimple and sure in its operation which can be operated to launch boatsone after another from the same davit with great speed and automaticallyprevent the upsetting of the boat as soon as it touches the water whichis so frequently the case with the' apparatus at present in use.

To attain these objects, the invention consists essentially of adownwardly swingable davit to which the boat is attached after beingpushed into position on a traveling truck, said davit being governed inits fall or rise with the boat, by a fluid controlled device hereinaftermore fully described, and said davit also being provided with auniversal hanger whereby the boat supported thereon can be turned aroundto a direction for properly negotiating the waves.

The invention will now be fully described with the aid of theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a portion of a ship showing thegeneral arrangement of the invention thereon and the swinging davit inseveral positions denoted by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe controlling cylinder and the adjacent parts. Fig. 3 is a plan viewof the controlling apparatus with a portion of the cylinder broken awayto disclose the interior. Fig. 4f is a sectional View showing anarrangement for hanging the boat on the davit by means of a loweringplatform. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a life boat showing the devicefor finally freeing the boat from the davit. Fig. G is an underside planview of the universal hanger at the upper extremity of a davit. Fig. 7is a longitudinal section through the universal hanger. Fig. 8 is anunderside plan view of the hanger with the Specication of LettersPatent.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Serial No. 732,482.

rotatable plate cut away. Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the davit.Fig. 10 is a vertical section through the swivel joint portion of thedavit. Fig. 11 is a sectional view showing a modified arrangement forhanging the boat on the davit by means of a lowering platform.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the davit in t-he forni of alever, pivoted at its lower end in bearings 2 secured to the side of theship at a point a few feet above the water line, and extending upwardlyto the forked upper end 3, normally overhanging the edge of the upperdeck or whichever deck the life-boats are situated on. As shown in thedrawings the davit 1 is constructed by a pair of bars 4l and 5 bracedtogether by struts 6, but this is merely a matter of convenience tosecure strength and the davit is to all intents and purposes a singlelever with a forked upper end.

Intermediate of its length the davit 1 is divided into upper and lowerparts connected by a swivel joint 7 vcomprising a flange plate 8 rigidlysecured to the upper part and having a depending pivot pin 9 fitting asocket 10 depending from a corresponding flange plate 11 rigidly securedto the lower part. A ring of ball bearings 1Q is interposed between theupper and lower flange plates and the pin 9 is secured within the socket10 by a nut 13 threaded onto its lower end and abutting the socket thusobtaining a free running and strong swivel oint.

14v is a catch lever fulcrumed at its lower end in bearings 15 adjacentthe edge of the flange plate S and having a hook extension 16 normallyengaging a notch 17 in the edge of the lower flange plate 11, and thuslocking the upper davit part against rotation in relation to the lowerpart, this condition prevailing except at such time as the boat has beenloaded and suspended and ready to be lowered, then the lever 14C ispulled to release the part 16 from notch 17 and the upper part of thedavit is swung around with the boat on it until the forked upper endfaces outwardly as in Figs. 1 and 9, when the arm falls down by theweight of the boat thereon as hereinafter described.

18 is the carrier plate of the hanger formed of elongated shape,reaching across between the bearings 19 at the extremities of the fork 3and provided with trunnions 20 at its end rotatably secured in saidbearings 19 by the caps 21 and a central cut away part forming thetoothed annulus 22.

23 is a suspension plate of substantially similar shape to the carrierplate 18 and provided with the central pivot hole 24, the adjacentjournal orifice 25 and the four eyes 2G at the outsidel corners.

27 is a washer mounted on the upper surface of the carrier plate 18, and28 is a pivot bolt securing both said plates and washer rotatablytogether, sets of ball bearings 29 being interposed to secure perfectfree running.

30 is a shaft extending through the journal orifice 25 in the suspensionplate 23, said shaft having the pinion 3l rigidly secured at its upperend meshing with the toothed an# nulus 22, and the operating handle 32at its lower end having any suitable clutch connection with the shaft sothat the pinion may be rotated little by little instead of completelyswinging around the handle.

33 are four chains depending from the eyes 26 respectively and eachhaving a roller eye 34 at the lower end (see Fig. 5).

In Fig. 5 is shown the means for quickly detaching the boat from thedavit as soon as it is properly placed in the water and in this ligureit will be seen that a shaft 35 extends across and is journaled at itsends in the sides of the boat with a rigid operating` lever 36intermediately arranged.

37 are draw plates rigidly mounted adjacent the end of the shaft 35.

38 are pairs of connecting rods extending outwardly from opposite sidesof the draw plates 37 toward the bow and stern of the boat and pivotallyconnected to said draw plates at their one ends and at the other ends tothe bolts 39 sliding respectively in blocks 40 and 4l secured to thesides of the boat, each of said bolts having a hook member 42 adapted tothread into an eye 34 and engage an orifice 43 in the block 40 when thebolts are drawn simultaneously by a single moven ment of the lever 36.

Having now completely described the construction of the davit and thesuspension and releasing device for the boat, I will now proceed todescribe t-he means for hitching the boat to the davit while loaded orun loaded, it being understood that the davit is normally disposed withits forked upper end pointed inwardly, or in other words overhanging theedge of the deck and not necessarily having a boat hitched thereto. lewill assume therefore, that the four chains 33 are dangling free fromthe suspension plate 23.

,According to my invention the lifeboats ori a ship are simply supportedrespectively on a traveling truck which preferably runs on rails leadingfrom any point or points on the deck to a point immediately beneath theforked end of the davit and at the latter point the deck is providedwith a lowering floor section. Thus a boat may be run beneath the davit,then hitched up by the means already described, the iioor sectionlowered by means such as hereinafter described and the boat is leftswinging freely on the davit.

There are many ways in which the floor section may be lowered and raisedbut a convenient arrangement is that shown in Fig. 4, in which 44 is thedeck of the ship having an opening therethrough filled by the loweringfloor section 45 supporting sections of rail 46 in alinement with thedeck rails hereinbefore mentioned.

47 are cylinders preferably four in number and supported respectivelybeneath each corner of the floor section on a suitably rigid frame 48.

49 are plungers depending from the underside of the floor section 45,respectively into the cylinders 47.

5() is an air pipe leading from a suitable compressed air supply andhaving branches 5l to the lower ends of the cylinders 47 respectivelyand exhaust branch 52.

53 is a three way valve in the pipe 50 at the junction with the exhaustbranch 52 and 54 is an operating lever on the deck 44 operativelyconnected with the valve 53.

Vhen it is desired to lower the floor section 45 the lever 54 is thrownover to operate the valve to a position cutting off the supply on theinlet side of the valve thus permitting the free out-How of the airpreviously let into the cylinders or forcing up the floor section andthe consequent fall of y the floor section.

To raise the floor section again the valve is operated to cut off theexhaust and open a free passage through the valve from inlet pipe 50 tothe branches 51 thereby forcing up the pistons 49 and the floor sectiontherewith.

55 is a sprocket wheel rigidly mount-ed to turn with the valve 53, and5G is a chain running on the sprocket 55 and an upper sprocket 57 andhaving a block 58 rigid thereon at a point in its length.

59 is a rod rising and falling with the iioor section 45 and having afinger G0 adapted to contact the block 58 at certain times toautomatically turn the valve to an olf position. For example when thelever has been thrown forward to raise the floor section the operatormay safely leave it as the finger GO rising with the floor sectionengages the block 58 and consequently turns the valve 53 to off by thetime the floor section has risen to the proper height.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the apparatus for governing the rise and fall of thedavit is shown, and in these figures 61 is an air cylinder securelyfastened to the deck of the ship or a suitable frame7 and having an airport 62 at one end thereof. 63 is a piston traveling in the cylinder 6land whose piston rod 64 extends through said cylinder at the endopposite to the port 62. 65 is a yoke rigidly secured to the piston rod64 and carrying a set of independently rotatable pulleys 67 near eachend thereof, that is to say one set on each side of the piston rod.lheels 68 are rotatably mounted at the eX- treme ends of the yoke 65,run on tracks 69 and thereby guide said yoke in its movements back andforth. 70 are sets of independent pulleys rotatably mounted in fixedbearings 71 one on each side of the cylinder 61 and in alinement withand corresponding to the sets of pulleys 67. 72 are a pair of cablesrigidly connected at one end to the davit l intermediate of its lengthand extending over guide pulleys 73 secured to the underside of the deckand pass along beneath the deck and upwardly therethrough andrespectively over one of the pulleys in the sets 70 then over thealining pulleys in the sets 67, back over sets 70 and so on, said cablesbeing finally fastened at these ends respectively to the anchors 7 3. Itwill thus be seen that on the fall of the davit the cables 72 will bepulled at that end the other end being anchored, the said cables tend tostraighten out, thereby pulling the sets of pulleys 67 toward the sets70 but at a much reduced rate of travel, consequent upon the back andforth winding of the cables in a manner very similar to the ordi naryhoisting block and tackle, therefore the yoke 65 also travels andconsequently the piston 68. Similarly if the piston 63 is pushed in theopposite direction the reverse operation will occur and a slow movementthereof will result in an increased rate of rise of the davit.

74 is a main air inlet pipe leading from a suitable compressed airsupply and having a U-shaped extension 75 leading to a common pipe 76which serves at different times for inlet and exhaust purposes.

77 is an outlet pipe substantially U-shaped and joining said common pipeat two spaced points and 7S is a pipe leading from the cylinder port 62into the said common pipe between said points while 79 and 8O are threeway-valves introduced in said common pipe 76 at the aforesaid junctionpoints. l 8l is an ordinary pop safety valve introduced in the outletpipe 77 between the valve 79 and the exhaust pipe 82, and 83 is anordinary reducing valve introduced in a short length of inlet pipe 84joining the main pipe 74 to the common pipe 76.

It is not thought necessary to describe in detail any of the valveshereinbefore mentioned as all such valves are so well known particularlyin steam engineering and are used without modification for the presentpurposes.

is a sprocket rigidly mounted on the upper end of the stem of valve 79,and 86 is a similar sprocket rigidly mounted on the upper end of thestem of valve 80.

87 is a handle for hand operating the valve 80, and 88 is a chainoperatively connecting the sprockets 85 and S6 so that the rotation ofone valve will simultaneously operate the other valve.

89 is a stop block rigidly secured at a point in the chain S8 and atcertain times engaged by a finger 90 extending laterally from one sideof the yoke 65 to move said chain and consequently rotate both valves 79and 80.

Vith the governing apparatus hereinbefore described it is possible tosecure results which are very essential to the safe launching of theboat from the vessel, and the operation thereof will now be described.

Assuming the boat has been loaded With passengers, hitched to the davitand the latter swung around so that the boat hangs over the water, theoperator turns the handle 87 of valve 80 to a point where the inlet isshut off and the exhaust opened. The davit is now free to fall with itsload as indicated in Fig. 1 and in falling it pushes in the piston 63toward the port 62 as here- -inbefore explained which has the effect offorcing out the air in the cylinder 6l by way of the pipes 7S, 76, valve80 and exhaust pipes 77 and 82 and it will be obvious that the fall ofthe arm will be grad ual as the air can only be forced out graduallythrough the comparatively small exhaust pipes. However this outrush o-fair can be nicely regulated if necessary by a hand operating valve 91.It should be mentioned that the turning of the valve SO as justdescribed, simultaneously turns the valve 79 to a position shutting offthe inlet pipeI and opening the pipe 76 to the pipe 77 though thepassage exhaust air that way is obstructed by the pop safety valve 81which thereby takes up any extra pres' sure and avoids strains on theparts through sudden Jerks or ]olts. At a certain point 1n the inwardtravel of the yoke 65 which may be regulated by the davi-t, that is whenthe boat just touches the water, the finger 90 on said yoke contacts theblock 89 and thereby pulling the chain 88, automatically turns thevalves 79 and 80 to a position closing the pipe 76 at valve 80 butopening same through valve 79 to reducing valve S3, thus preventing thefurther outflow of air in other words arresting the fall of the davit inthe required position, the reducing valve S3 having been regulated toonly lift the weight of the davit. If everything is favorable to acast-off, the occupants of the boat now free the boat by pulling lever36 as before described and immediately the weight is taken off the davitby the loosing of the boat, the inlet pressure overcomes the reducingvalve and compressed air passes through the short pipe 84E past valve 79through pipe 78 into the cylinder, forcing the piston 63 out again andlifting the empty davit which is then swiveled around in position toreceive another boat which has meanwhile been loaded and run intoposition on the floor section 45. This feature of automaticallyreturning the empty davit is extremely important as it also performsanother function of vital importance to the safe launching of the boatnamely that the davit will rise with the boat if the latter is suddenlydashed up by a wave therefore the boat need not be cast loose until theproper safe moment and the dan ger of sudden capsizing when the boattouches the water, is avoided. This rising of the davit with the boatwill be apparent from the foregoing description as the lifting of theboat on a wave also takes the weight of the boat off the davit. If it isdesired to bring the boat load back on deck again this can also beaccomplished by turning the valve 80 to a position giving a free inletof air therethrough from pipes 74 and 7 5' into pipes 7 G and 7 8simultaneously shut ting off the outlet pipe 77.

Another important feature of the present invention is the hangerarrangement at the extremity of the forked upper end of the davit, forby the simple operation of the handle 32, the plate 23 and consequentlythe boat can be twisted around in relation to plate 1S as the pinion 32is thus caused to travel around the annulus 22 and pull the plate 23with it (see F ig. 6.) Thus the boat, while suspended in the air can beproperly positioned to meet the waves before being lowered onto thewater.

In Fig. 11 is shown a modified form of means for raising the floorsection 92 and consists of cylinders 93 telescoping in one anothersupported respectively beneath each corner of the floor section on therigid frame 94 or on the deck 95. Beneath the upper deck 96 are plungerssecured to the under side of the floor section 92 fitting with thecylinders 93. 97 is an air pipe leading from a suitable compressed airsupply and having branches 9S to the lower ends of the cylinders 93respectively and an exhaust branch 99. 100 is a three way valve in thepipe 97 at the junction with the exhaust branch 99 and 101 is anoperating lever on the deck operatively connected with th-e valve 100.In this novel arrangement of' the floor section, the' said floor sectionmay be lowered down to the lower' deck where many boats may be stored.Rails may be laid in the same way as on the upper deck and the boatsfrom. this lower deck can be transported to the upper deck. In this waya great many life boats may also be stored on drawings may be modifiedto a certain extent without departing from the' invention as set forthin the following claims for novelty.

Vhat I claim as my invent-ion is 1. In an apparatus for launching shipsboats, an up and down moving davit, means for raising and lowering saiddavit, and automatically operable means connected with the aforesaid,means to cause the lifting of the davit when the boat load weight isrelieved therefrom.

2. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swingingdavit, a fluid pressure cylinder suitablymounted on the ship, areciprocating piston in said cylinder, means for securing simultaneousinward movement of the pisto-n when the davit falls, fluid supply andexhaust pipes leading to said cylinder valves in said pipes and meansfor automatically obtaining an inflow of Huid to said cylinder withconsequent lifting of the davit, when the boat load weight is relievedfrom said davit. K

3. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swingingdavit, a fluid pressure cylinder suitably mounted on the ship, areciprocating piston in said cylinder adapted to be pushed outwardly bya suitable luid supply, means for securing simultaneous movement of saidpiston and the davit, fluid supply and exhaust pipes associated withsaid cylinder', a pair of coupled three way valves in said pipes andhand operating means therefor and a reducing valve in one of said pipesfor obtaining a reverse movement of said piston as herein described andset forth.

t. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swingabledavit having a forked upper end, boat suspension means mounted tooscillate on a horizontal axis in said forked part, means for turningthe boat on a vertical axis in said suspension means, whereby the boatmay be swung around to meet the waves, and means for lifting andlowering said davit.

5. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swingabledavit having a forked upper end, a carrier plate having trunnionssupported in said forked end, a suspension plate connected beneath andto said carrier plate by a vertical pivot7 means for suspending a boatfrom said suspension plate, means for manually turning said suspensionplate on said pivot and means for controlling the rise and fall of saiddavit.

6. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a- Vertically swingabledavit having a forked upper end, a carrier plate supported by itstrunnions in said fork end and having a toothed annulus in the center, asuspension plate disposed beneath said carrier plate and supportedtherefrom by a central vertical pivot, a shaft extending through saidsus` pension plate to one side of the center with a pinion at its upperend meshing with said annulus an operating handle mounted on the lowerend of said shaft chains for suspending a boat from said suspensionplate, and means for controlling the rise and fall of said davit.

7. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swingingdavit having a forked upper end, a plate carried in said' fork chainssuspended respectively from the four corners of said plate and havingeyes at their lower ends, a pair of draw bolts slidably secured to eachside of the boat and each having a hooked part adapted to engage an eyeo-f said chains a shaft extending across the boat between said bolts,means connecting said shaft and draw bolts for simultaneously operatingall the latter from the rotation of said shaft, and means forcontrolling the rise and fall of said davit.

Signed at the city of Montreal, Canada, this 13th day of November, 1912.

LUDGER LHEUREUX.

Witnesses:

REN A. PIGEON, V. LABELLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

